Loose-leaf dinder



B. R. DUTCHEH.

LOOSE LEAF BINDER.

APPLlcAloN man 1,uLY12, 1919.

Patented Jan. 1U, 1922.

courant?, or new Yoan,

i i to a 'LOOSE-LEAF BEN Application filed July l2,

To @ZZ whom t may concern Be it known that l, EnnNAno DUTor-inn, acitizen of the United States, residing in New York, in the county ot NewYork and State oi New York, have invented certain new and usefulimprovements in Loose-Leaf Binders, ot which the following is a specifivcation.

My present invention relates to an improvement in loose-leaf binders,the object ot the invention being to provide an nnproved universal typeof post gripping device.

VAnother object ot' my invention is to prothey are separable and areeconomical to manufacture, may be utilized to cooperate in operativefunction without too much precision in the manufacture thereof.

Another object ot my invention is to provide means whereby the bindingposts may be readily gripped and held upright in vertical positionthereby obviating the showing of one or Aboth ot the binder posts whengripping the same in the binder member.

rlhese and other advantages will appear from the subjoincdspecification, and by reitcrence to the drawings herewith, in which,-

Figure l is a perspective view of my device;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view thereof;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view.

Figure eiis a 'fragmentary plan view oiC the lool member;`

Figure 5 is a partial plan view of the "on: plete locking element, and

Figure 6 is a side elevation thereof.

in my present type of device, l obtain an improved form of binder menbersuch as is used in loose-leaf hinders, inasmuch as l lave done away withtwo heretofore objectionable faults in this class ot binder inember, oneet' the said faults being duo to the tact that when binder posts areinitiall locked into operative position, there is tendency iior them tothrow ash-ev thorW coming` out et registration with the cooperatingpertorations in the loose-leaf she^ts that are used therewith, and inthe opposite binder member.

By reterring to figure l, the binder meinher generally denoted by 3 isprovided w'th Specification of Letters atent.

vice composite binder means, which, while Patented l an. MP, i922.

1919. Serial No. StG/i3d.

suitable oritlces e and 5 in the outer casing thereof wherein to receivethe customary binding posts, l and 2, which are shown in dotted lines,the ends 6 and 7 of the binder member being formed so as to becomeclosures for the binder member, thereby forma smooth-ended device otpleasing appearance. The edges oft the orhices a and 5 form lockingshoulders against which the posts l and 2 are locked, as will beexplained.

ln the construction of my device, the casing generally denoted by S, ofthe binder member 3 is made preferably of rolled light gage sheet metal,and has formed therein a rectangular chamber 9 running the entire lengththereof.

lnto this chamber is placed a suitable clamp 10, which is utilized forthe purpose of drawing up and locking or clamping the binder posts l and2 in operative position.

This clamp bar is so made that its gripping portions thereoic are moreor less resilient, and it is so made that the locking aws ll thereof,when the clamp bar lO is in operative position, are constructed as toaccommodate themselves to a slight variability in the registrationposition and diameter ot the members l and 2. rlhis will now be moredescribed in detail.

liy referring to Fi ot the locking ends view. it will be note ll areformed by two iL-ll, the inner Jfaces of which are inclined toward thecenter, or are angular, and that the clamp bar is slit in oppositedirections as at l2 and l2 suil'icient distance away trom the 'portions9 as to allow a certain amount oi give, or resiliency, to the loclringfaces ll. ln order to accel tuate this resilient or giving action of theiaws ll, l have further reniovec the material on either side ot theliaws ll as at 1S thereby malring the jaws much narrower than theirnormal width it. they were lett uncut, keeping suiiicient stmaojththerein to properly perform the di v required of them, but leaving themS lli v re ll, which shows one i my device in plan d that the lockingjaws opposing members gu o yientlji7 resilient to accommodate themse1 tothe usual i iis-registration and varying diameter ot the coacting partsas would occur in ordinary manuiacture.

i ne ici Doing is oetcei ocmonstia ,d ii we refer llioure which showsspecifically7 a LJ L .4

full sized clamping bar which is broken away in the middle in order toshorten the length thereof. While the discrepancies here set forth areextremely exaggerated, this is purposely done in order to bring out thefeatudes that exist in a minor way in the article themselves. Y

Dimension A is the normal operative distance between the centers of thelocking openings lei-14 of the clamping bar, B is the functioninglocation of two bushing members l5- 15, which will be later described,and it will be noted that Athe left hand bushing member 15 is wellforward and out of pitch, thus making a discrepancy between the twocenter distances itk-B. It

will also be noted that while the right hand bushing member 15 is insubstantial Contact with the jaws 11 of the bar 10, that the left handmember 15 has moved forward to the left a certain distance, but is alsoin contact with its cooperating locking jaws 11, expanding the same outof their normal positions asl may be ascertained by referring to theslot 12 and comparing it with other slots 12. ln other words, the twolocking jaws 11 on the left hand side of the bar as shown in Figure 5have expanded slightly'in order to accommodate for the differencebetween the centers A-B, which difference may be caused by variationl indiameter of the bushings or their lack of registration or both.

The bushing membersl are utilized for forming seat or gripping membersfor the reception of the binder posts 1 and 2, and the bushings are ofthe same height as the height of the chamber 9 formed between theopposing walls of the casing 8 and are a sliding fit therebetween. @bviously when these sliding bushing members are placed in the casing theycannot get out of position nor tilt, and at the same time their heightforms a greater vertical @ripping area or surface for engaging thebinder posts members than has heretofore been utilized in this kind ofbinder. These bushing members are loosely set into the openings 14 andare simply carried to and fro by the reciprocation of the lock bar 10which is operated by means of the usual key, not shown, and the threadedkey-shaiikl which is mounted in a threaded hole in a block 17 which isriveted or otherwise atlixed to the-casing member 8 in the usual manner.

The threaded member 16 has a cylindrical head 18 thereon which fits in asuitably formed head slot 19 in one end of the lock bai 10 so that uponrotation by means of a key member 16, the block 17 being held asdescribed, the lock Ybar 10 is reciprocated to and fro as is customaryin devices ofV this.

class.

ln the manufacture of devices of this type, it is obvious that errorsmust occur between the distances between centers A of the lock bar 10and the corresponding openings 4t and 5 which are located in the casing8, all of which openings are supposed, theoretically, to coincide insuch a maniieias to properly engage the binding posts 8 when they are inoperative engagement. As a matter Vof'fact, however, unless thesemembers are assenr bled completely and all drilled together, it isseldom that there is surlicient precision registration between all ofthe cooperating locking openings to properly clamp the binding postsVand hold them properly vertical. lllhere the holes e and 5 are placedin the easing by a separate operation and the corresponding holes 111are placed in the bar 10V at different operations andY when the deviceis assembled and in use, there is always sure to be one of the binderpost members which will receive nearly all of the binding pressure andthe mate binding post would receive very little due to this discrepancyor lack of registration.

By means of the foregoingdescription of "the resilient j aw members 11and the methods 1 ofV mounting the post-engaging bushing memberstherein, it is obvious that should the openings in the casing 8 and thelock bar member 10 beout of registration, the posts 1 and 2 maybeintroduced therein and when locked will be properly engaged with agripping lock owing to the slight giving of all of the aw members 11,each jaw member giving away slightly in accordance with its lack ofregistration with theV corresponding locking holes 4- and 5 in thecasing mem-Y ber 8 and any discrepancy in the diameters of the post.members 1 and 2. f

lt will be obvious that the device will opcrate if the bushings 15 areeliminated since, in that case, the clamping will be effected on theposts.

I claim:

A clamp bar for loose leaf binders com.- prisihng, an elongated bodyprovided with locking openings each'formed with converging locking jawsat one end, said .locking `iaws extending in the same direction ateachopening, both of said openingseach being continued at their oppositeends into alined slits. A y

A clamp bar for loose leaf binders comprising, an elongated bodyprovided with locking openings each formed with a substantiallysemi-circular portion at one end and converging locking jaws at theother end, said locking jaws extending in the same direction at eachopening, said openings each being` continued at opposite ends intoalined slits. Y v

A clamp'bar for loose leaf binders comprising an elongated body providedwith locking` openings each formed with a substantially semi-circularportion at one end and converging locking jaws at the other end, saidlocking jaws extending in the same direction at each opening, saidopenings each being; continued at opposite ends into alined slits, slitsat opposite ends being of ongtli vitli the slit extending` ijaws longerthan the slit er l inpfr rhe sen'ii-ciieular end.

d. ln combination, a binder member pvided with oriihices; a clamp memberlniviin lockingl` openings; bushiii disposed in said clamp bar thereinhaving` locking` openings approximately registering with said orificesand forming converging locking jaws and dividing the bar into pair oiresilient j ortions carrying the jaws; locking busl ings looselydisposed in said openings and engaged by said jaws; binder postspassing.;I through said bushings and oriiices; ai neans acting on saidbar 'for pushing sa jaws into wedging engagement with said bushings.

7. in combination, a hollow binder member having` parallel spaced wallsprovided with registering loclring oriiices; a clamp bar between saidwalls and having locking` openings approximately registerino-` with saidorifices and forming converging` ioclring jaws; locking bushings largerthan and approximately co-axial with said orii'ices and loosely disposedin said locking openings and tangentially engaged on approi atelydiametrically opposite sides by said converging jaws; binder postspassing throuo'h said b ishings, locking` openings and oriiices; andmeans acting on said bar for jaws into wedging locking engae saidbushings,

8. ln combination, a binder member; bushings associated therewith;binder posts disposed in said bushings; and clamp meniber 'for lockingsaid posts in said bu l 9. lin combination, a pair relativen iiovablemembers; bushings associated therewith; posts in said bushings andloclze l there in by relative movement oi said members.

l0. ln combination, o l i ider member provided with orifices; lockingbuslii a ated with said binder member; binder posts passing through saidbushings and z and a movable clamp member posts in said bushings.

ll. ln combination, a hollow binder uienA ber provided with orifices;locking` bushings disposed in said binder member; binder posts assingthrough said bushings and orii'ices; and a clamp bar moi/'able withinsaid vneinber i-'or bringingT about a locking; action between posts andbushings.

combination, binder member havpa efl walls provided with oriiices;loclrs di posed in said er member substantially in registration with.said oriiices; binder posts passing throng' saidI bushings d orifices;a'id a clamp movable between said walls for bringing about a lockingaction between said posts and said bushings and orifices.

i3. in combination, a hollow be haring two pairs of opp ahned with otier; a clamp bar disposed in said member and provided with lockingopenings each formed with locking jaws;

@non

b tn oil said openings being continuel at th ir opposite ends intoalined slits; and loclrable elements loosely disposed in said openingsorifices and eaiiying` separate locking portiens engageabie saidL jaws.

la in combination, hoilow binder meinber haring pairs oi opposed locorihces alined with each other; amp bar therein iavino' locirino'openings an iroxnnateljt 13 r S. I ,1 registering w said oiinces andiorining converging locling jaws and each dividing ill a portion of thebai' into a pair oi resilient portions carrying Lhe jaws; and lockableelements loosely disposed in said openings and oriices and carryingvseparate locking` portions engaged by said aws with wedging action.

l5. ln combination, a 'iollov binder member having pairs of opposedlocking criticos registering with each other; a 'lamp bar therein having'ic-chino openings approximately registering witi saic. orifices andconvergino` looking jaws each forming aw'i'. e# im'# -f- Livioing a..poition oi ne oai into a pali oi resilient porti iis carrying the jaws;loclrable elements loosely disposed in said open ings and orifices andcarrying` lo portions engaged by said jaws; and means acton the formoving said ws into wedging engagement with said portions.

16. ln combination, a hollow binder ber having pairs oil opposedorifices alined with each other; clamp bar disposed in said member andprovided with locking,`

openings each formed with converging loci;- ing' jaws at one end, loclri:j jaws e5:- tendingY in 'the directimA each opening, both of said dieiibe continued t Lheir opposite end o alined slits;r and a loclableelements loosely disposed iii said openings and orinces and carryinglocking pai-ts engag able by said aws with a wedging engagement.

l?. in combination, a hollow binder ineinber l aving pairs o:

opposed orifices aliiied with each other; a

clamp bar disposed in said member and provided with locking openingseach formed with converging3 lock; ing jaws at one end, said lockingjaws extending in the saine direction at each opening, both 0I" saidopenings being continued at their opposite ends into alined slits;lock-y able elements loosely disposed in vsaid open-

